Jeremy ’s Reviews > Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven > Status Update

Wiki: Heinrich Schütz 1585[1] – 6 November 1672[2]) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He is credited with bringing the Italian style to Germany and continuing its evolution from the Renaissance into the early Baroque.

Recitar cantando ("speaking in song") is a 17th-century Italian singing style that blends dramatic speech with melody. Developed in Florence, this monody (single voice with accompaniment) prioritized emotional text delivery over complex polyphony, forming the foundation of early opera. It was perfected by composers like Claudio Monteverdi

Three musicians of immense future distinction turned 18 in 1703: Domenico Scarlatti, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frederic Handel.

While attending St. Michael’s School in Lüneburg (1700–1702), Bach was a pupil of Böhm, organist at Johanniskirche. Böhm renowned for his development of the chorale partita (sets of variations on hymn melodies) and his free-form works. Böhm was likely a student of the Northern German organ school influence, potentially influenced by Pachelbel, exposing Bach to both North and South German musical traditions.

Wiki: Georg Böhm (1661–1733) was a German Baroque organist and composer, crucial to the development of the chorale partita, who likely taught a young Johann Sebastian Bach in Lüneburg around 1700. A 2004 manuscript discovery confirmed this connection

Johann Christoph Bach of Ohrdruf (Eldest Brother): When J.S. Bach was orphaned at age 10, he moved in with his brother in Ohrdruf. Johann Christoph taught him clavichord and organ, providing his foundational musical training.

Johann Christoph Bach of Eisenach (First Cousin Once Removed): As a composer working in Eisenach, his sacred works influenced J.S. Bach's contrapuntal style.

It was a custom for the Bachs to hold annual get-togethers in one of the Thuringian towns. Once assembled, they always began by singing a corral. The rowdier things got, the greater the opportunity for extemporary, jam singing, with all the brothers, organists, cantors and town musicians.

BWV 19
Apocalyptic chorale
JS Bach wrote in 1726

Tim Blanning argued, “ the 18th century has as much claim to be called the Age of Religion as the Age of Religion. All the churches-Catholic, Calvinist and Lutheran-were flourishing, with public and private discourse both dominated by religion (substantially more so in the first half of the century than in the second).

Gottfried Leibniz, “Music is the hidden arithmetical exercise of a mine unconscious that it is calculating.”